Page 7 of Fighting for Scarlett

Now, she was even more alone.

Imprisoned here without her team, without her Prey family. Neither her parents nor her grandparents would be impressed that she had wound up working with a whole bunch of military types. In their minds, she was just proving how weak she was. All those men and women had served their country, fought to protect the innocent, to eliminate evil, and she sat in a nice, air-conditioned lab doing work they would believe was beneath her.

More light suddenly filled the dimly lit cell she was locked in, and the sound of footsteps told her someone was coming.

Time to face the music.

Scarlett prayed some of what her parents had taught her more than a decade ago had managed to stick.

Because she was going to need every ounce of strength and training she’d ever had if she was going to survive.

You sent the text to Lucy. She knows you're in trouble. Prey will come for you. They never leave anyone behind. They’ll come. All you have to do is stay alive until they get here.

The mental pep talk did little to encourage her, and by the time two men appeared outside her cell, she was shaking so hard that her teeth were chattering.

Way to show you're not afraid, Scar.

Funnily enough, her rebuking herself rather than encouraging herself calmed her enough to control the worst of the shaking.

She did know that Prey would come for her. They’d scour the world for her. Eagle Oswald himself—retired SEAL and founder and CEO of Prey Security—would call on every single contact he had to find her and bring her home.

That was what family did.

They didn't abandon you, treat you like you were a nuisance, get angry that you wouldn’t live your life according to the plan they had for you, and then disown you. Her Prey family would never turn their backs on her.

Not for anything.

Knowing that meant she could face the two men who had unlocked her cell and stalked toward her. Just because she didn't work in the field didn't mean she didn't recognize the look in their eyes. They were excited to have a prisoner and looking forward to hurting her.

This was the first time she’d seen anyone since she woke up on the floor inside this bare little cell. Now that she got a good look at the men, she realized with a sinking feeling of hopelessness that she knew who they were.

The tattoos.

A gun surrounded by a ring of sticks of dynamite placed in the hollow at the bottom of their throat.

These men were Raul Castillo’s men.

Raul Castillo was a notorious weapons trafficker. He had money and power, and he lived deep in the Mexican jungle surrounded by his own army. While he hadn't specifically been on Prey’s radar in an active case, he was wanted, and she knew Eagle would love to add him to one of Prey’s success stories.

Why had Raul had her abducted?

Did he intend to use her to force Prey’s hand to get something he wanted?

That seemed unlikely.

If the man wanted to blackmail Prey, there were better people to abduct to do it than her. One of the Oswald kids would cause a much bigger wave if they were taken. Then again, if one of the Oswald little ones were taken, the fury of Prey would be ignited much greater than by taking her.

Two meaty hands grabbed her arms, one of them closing around the gunshot wound she’d gotten back at her house.

Pain screamed down from the wound, and Scarlett had to clamp her teeth together to stop the scream from escaping and giving these men exactly what they wanted.

They wanted her in pain. They would relish her suffering. The only leverage she had was to pretend she was unaffected by all of this.

Sure, easy, Scar, you can totally convince these men you're a tough girl. They’ll totally believe it.

Rolling her eyes at herself only reinforced her belief that she was the opposite of tough and had already succumbed to panic and fear and lost her mind.

“Where are you taking me? Why am I here?” she asked, aiming for haughty but failing miserably.

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